Vulcanizing apparatus.



C. E. MILLER.

VULCANIZING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED 0cT.26. 1911.

1,142,526. Patented June 8, 1915.

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WITNESSES.-

for each size-oftire commonly used, thus [necessitating quite a heavy investment in .cnAnLns E. MILLER, of'immason, IN'DIANA.

vuLcAmzme ArrAzaArus.

To all 'wkom it concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. MILLER,

a citizen ofthe United States, and aresident of Anderson, county of -Madison, and' State I of Indiana, have invented a certain useful vulcanizing apparatus as well as requiring considerablestoring.space. i It-is the object of "this invention to provide a vulcanizing apparatus which shall be capable of being'adapted for use'with all sizes of tires from the smallest bicycle tire up to the largest automobile tire.

The features of the invention lie in providing adjustable side members to which heat is applied and between-which tread and rim or bead coveringsh'oes may be secured about the tire together with means whereby the same side members maybe used for vulcanizing flat work, such as inner casings and the like, and other features hereinafter set forth.

The nature of the invention will-be un- -,derstood fromthe accompanying drawings and the following description and claim. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective ofthe device. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the upper portion and midway thereof, and with a tire secured therein ready to be operated upon. Fig. 3 shows in side elevation the means for securing the bead shoe. Fig. 4 is avsection through the ears shown at either end of Fig. 1, showing the means for separating the members. Fig.

5 isa vertical longitudinal section on'the line 55 of Fig. 2. Figs. G and 7 are per-' spectives of different bead shoes. Fig. 8 is a perspective of the tread shoe. Fig. 9 shows the'means for adapting the top of the steam box for vulcanizinga flat surface.

In detail there is shown in the drawings, a vulcanizing apparatus havingv heating chambers 10 and 11 supported upon legs 12 and with a tread shoe-13 between said'heatingchambers upon which a .tire 14 is placed having inner casing 15, and with bead shoes a clamping bar 17.

16 surrounding the inner portion of the tire and the beads thereon and held in placeby Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 8, 1915.

Application filed October 26, 1911. Serial No. 656,963.

The hollow heating. chamber 10 .is substantially L-shaped in cross section, as

shown-in Fig. 2, and issecured to the legs 12 by means of bolts '18 and is supplied with steam from any-convenient source through a pipe 19. There is a port 20 through the inner wall of said chamber and near the bottom which communicates with the hollow tread shoe 13. Said tread shoe .13 'has a fiat bottom and the sides thereof which extend 'upwardly at right angles, lie against the necessarily convexlongitudinally. The outer sides thereof are plane and are adapted to lie against the inner vertical sides of the steam chambers 10 and 11. The upper face is concave and-has a small groove midway between the vertical sides into which fit the tapering button-like heads 22 on the bolts 23 on the clampingbar 17.

The heating chamber 11 is similar-to the chamber 10 excepting that it is free'to slide upon the legs 12 and is forced inwardly by hand wheels 24 on the screws 25 extending through upward lugs 26 on the-legs 12-. The chamber 11 is supplied with steam from the chamber 10. through the .port 20 in the chamber 10 and a port 27 in the chamber 11 leading to the central part ofthe tread shoe 13. The upper faces 28 of the chambers 10 and 11 are flat for the purpose, hereinafter mentioned, and there is a T-shaped slot 29 in the vertical outer faces, as shown 1n Figs. 1 and 2, extending longitudinally thereof substantially their entire length.

Thereare projecting ears 30 at either end of 1 said steam boxes 10 and 11 through which a sprmg bolt extends for forcing the steam boxes apart when the screws 25 are withlugs 30 and tends to force them apart to the limit allowed by the tubular bolt 31 and bolt 35. The outer movement of the upper end of the steam chambers is limited by a nut 37 on a bolt 38 extending through said bolt across the clamping bar 17 by which the beadshoes are clamped in place.

Should it be desired to vulcanize the surface of a portion of an inner tire or other rubber fabric which may be flattened out, a clamp 39 may be inserted into one of the slots 29 on either side of the steam chambers, .and the work may be held von the flat upper surface 28 of the steam chamber.

It will be readily understood that it will be necessary to have a tread member 10 and bead members 16 for each difl'erent size of tire, but the steam chambers 10 and 11 may be used for all of the ,diflerent sizes by moving them toward or away from each other by means of the hand wheel 24: and the as sistance of the bolt 38 and nut 37. The

' steam may come from any desired source of power, whether from a large boiler some distance from the apparatus or from the small boiler 40, located beneath the device, as shown in Fig. 2.

The inner casing 15 is well known and is used to distend the tire to its normal size.

The device may be placed upon a bench or table or the legs may have angle iron extensions added, as shown in Fig. 2, and supported from the floor.

Should the spot on a tire needing repairs be to one side of the tread, the tire may be so inserted in the vulcanizing apparatus that the worn place is adjacent the heating chamber 10, and the steam passage 27 may be stopped ofi by inserting a thin plate in the counter-bore 4O surrounding the steam opening in the is allowed to enter the chamber 11 and only that portion of the tire is heated which actually requires heat.

I claim as my invention:

tread member 13. Thus no steam Vulcanizing apparatus including a pair of oppositely located heating chambers, a hollow tread shoe located between said heating chambers, a pair of bead shoes between said heating chambers and above said tread shoe and placed side by side, and a downwardly acting wedgeshaped means for engaging said bead shoes at their adjacent edges and simultaneously forcing them ownward and laterally against the heating chambers.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto atfixed my signature in the presence of the Witnesses herein named.

' CHARLES E. LLER. Witnesses:

G. H. BOINK, E. H. MAYO. 

